Aldo Nova

Aldo Caporuscio (born November 13, 1956), known by the stage name Aldo Nova, is a Canadian hard rock musician. He gained recognition with his 1982 debut album Aldo Nova, which peaked at Billboard's number 8 position, and its accompanying single, "Fantasy", which reached number 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and boosted sales for its parent album. In 1997, he won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year as co-producer of Celine Dion's 1996 album Falling into You. He co-wrote four songs on the 2000 album Uno by La Ley, which won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album.

Nova was born in Montreal, Quebec, to Italian immigrant parents from a small village near Rome. He adopted the stage name Aldo Nova when he started playing guitar and keyboards at age 15.

Signing with Portrait Records, Nova released a self-produced album Aldo Nova in 1982, that had two singles: "Fantasy" and "Foolin' Yourself". The Top 40 success of "Fantasy" led to Nova being listed as a one-hit wonder by VH1 in 2009.

Nova's second album Subject…Aldo Nova from 1983, had two singles: "Monkey on Your Back" and "Always Be Mine". His third album Twitch from 1985, had two singles: "Rumours of You" and "Tonite (Lift Me Up)".

Nova was displeased with the third album and the record company's insistence on making a more commercial album. After supporting the Twitch album, Nova's label refused to release him from his contract, and he stopped working with Portrait. In 1990, Aldo Nova wrote the main guitar riff used in the Jon Bon Jovi song, "Blaze of Glory". In 1991, to return the favour, Bon Jovi worked with Nova to release Blood on the Bricks on Bon Jovi's label Jambco Records. It had three singles: "Blood on the Bricks", "Medicine Man", and "Someday".

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.